Rik Coppens
Henri (Rik) Coppens ( Antwerp , April 29 1930 ) is a former Belgian football player . His club career began at the age of sixteen at Beerschot VAC , where he became the audience favorite in no time. Coppens was known as a brilliant balkunstenaar with a nose for goals.He was twice top scorer in the Belgian first division: In the 1952-1953 season with 33 goals and in the 1954-1955 season with 36. In this period Coppens was followed by European top teams like Barcelona , Inter , Napoli and Espanyol . However Beerschot held the leg stiff and did not leave Coppens. Coppens pulled packed stadiums and was a real crowd player. He could be stripped supporters and opponents humiliate his repeatedly plays . Coppens entertained the audience: he scored his nose, or his heel , and pointed before a penalty took the corner on which he would place it. Stimulated by an unprecedented Coppens defeated the Red Devils on September 26, 1954 brand new world champion West Germany, he scored one of the goals. Coppens is also known for the invention of the penalty in threes. During a qualifying round match in 1957 against Iceland, Belgium was 4-0 for the moment Rik Coppens had to take a penalty. In a reflex, he was prompted to hit the ball directly to shoot, but to adapt to his teammate Andre Piters . These pass to turn the ball back to Coppens, which they could shoot. The ball into the empty goal [1 ][2 ][3 ][4] Johan Cruyff has this way of scoring 25 years later repeated withJesper Olsen . Coppens was in 1954 voted the best player in the first class and so became the first ever winner of the Golden Shoe . He remained at Beerschot until after yet another argument with the board in 1961, he moved to Olympic Charleroi . Then he played with Jean Crossing , Berchem Sport and Tubantia Borgerhout where he could taste a trainer. first He played a total of 389 league matches and scored 258 goals. Between 1947 and 1959 Coppens also played 47 times for the Belgian football team in which he scored 21 goals. Trivia [ edit ] *Rik Coppens had a supporting role in the film The Orderly (1962). *In Nero (comic) album "The White Pearl" (1962) by Marc Sleen Adhemar boil in strip 2 a paste with mashed her famous footballers, including Rik Coppens. If Nero eats it he becomes a star football player. *Rik Coppens ended in 2005 at No. 73 in the Flemish version of the election of The Greatest Belgian . *A well-known anecdote about Coppens claims he ever scored a goal with his nose. In a Humo interview from May 4, 2010 Coppens told that this story is grossly exaggerated: "It was back in a game against Beringen Dog Weather It was raining cats steal and the terrain there was very heavy when I had an attack launched, the... goalkeeper had caught the ball and threw it on to him from the stairs -.. so did the keepers at that time, but I was able to steal the ball to the goalkeeper could put it to his feet and ran into the goal there is afterwards of the fact that I was lying on my stomach on the goal line and the ball was pushed with my nose on the line Come say that box was a quagmire, and the balls were very heavy when -. you think I got that thing with my "neuzeke" Such a whopper on the line is it not? " (MARIS, Jeroen Raes, Frank, "Rik Coppens 80" , Humo No. 3635, May 4, 2010, p 38-42) Trainer Career [ edit ] *1971 - 1974: Berchem Sport *1974 - 1977: Beerschot VAC *1977 - 1981: Berchem Sport *1981 - 1982: Club Brugge *1982 - 1984: Beerschot VAC Category:1930 births